Ring height for Badger Ordanance.

[steve smith]

I will soon be purchasing a set of Badger Ordanance rings and base for my LR rig. But am a little confused on which ring height to get. My current setup places the bell of the scope very close to the barrel, and I would like a little more space in there. The scope is a Leupold 8.5-25x50 LRT, and barrel conture is a NBRSA HV (1.25" out beyond the reciever for 5" then taper to .900 @ 29"). Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Nicholas]

I am pretty sure that the medium high rings will work, but I would call marty at badger and double check.

 

[Ian M]

The standard rings are 0.823" from the bottom to the center of the scope and the mediums are 0.885". Those numbers don't mean a lot since the whole ring is sitting on a base, but they show the relative height of each style.

I use both and prefer the looks of the standards with a 50mm scope and heavy contour barrel. I just checked a couple of rifles and the scopes sit low but there is enough clearance for a ScopeCoat to go between the bell and the barrel - maybe 1/8". The rings are sitting on Badger bases and the barrel contours are heavy, NXS scopes which would have a little thicker body-wall than your scope.

The Medium would give a bit more clearance, maybe increase to 1/4" or so, but I'm pretty sure your Leupold will fit nicely in standards. The Mediums are more for 56mm front-ends I believe. If you buy them you are set if you ever get a bigger objective scope. There are a couple of slightly taller rings now, to accomodate Nightforce scopes primarily. My 3.5-15x50mm NXS looks real nice in the standards tho.

I don't notice any difference in shooting position when using either height.

 

[MontanaMarine]

The standard ring (.823) is probably a bit too low for your barrel contour with the 50mm objective. The medium (.885) should work. I have the medium rings with Badger 20 moa base on a Rem700 with a Douglas #7. Leupold 6.5-20x50 LR mounted. Scope to barrel clearance without lens caps is .155 inch. with lens cap .075 inch.

Hope this helps. MM

 

[Ian M]

MM,
You are correct, my 50mm scope in standards would barely allow for Butler Creeks - I have a heavy Scope Coat on and it is a snug fit over the bell. I like the low position, but the mediums will give more clearance without looking too high. One of the barrels is a straight taper Mike Rock and it does not touch the scope bell. This is a matter of choice, I would swap my mediums for standards as I prefer the real low scope height.

 

[MontanaMarine]

Ian,

I'm with you on the low mounting. To be on the safe side though, I ordered the .885 med. rings. My measurements indicate the .823 standard rings would have worked for me too. the difference between the two only being .062" ..I still would have had .013" clearance with standard rings with butler creek caps in place. Close, but still OK.

The rifle has a McMillan A2 stock. After mounting the optics in the medium rings, I did a little test. Closed my eyes, mounted the rifle naturally in my shoulder, then opened my eyes. Perfect eye-to-scope alignment! The .062" change in scope center seems imperceptable to me in shooting positions. (I previously had a 3.5-10x40 LR M3 on the rifle in standard rings.) But I agree that lower is always better.

MM

[ 04-06-2002: Message edited by: MontanaMarine ]

 

[Ian M]

By the way, Badger Ord. sells a great kit with a Sekonk 65 in-lb "T"-handle snap wrench and the fittings to tighten both the side nut (1/2") on the rings and also stock bolts. Unlike the Leupold model (65 in-lb either direction) this one will undo mount nuts as it goes 80 in-lb one way and 65 the other.
Not sure of the $, nor did I see it in his catalog but he does put these kits together - they were at the SHOT show booth. This stuff is costy but hopefully you only buy it once. Easy to check as his e-mail is on the badgerord website.
I believe Premiere sells the same snap wrench.

 

[MontanaMarine]

Ian,

Premier Reticles sells the Torque wrench you are talking about for $65.00. It is listed under "Accessories". It is on my short-list of "things I should buy next"

http://www.premierreticles.com/

I thought I would buy a craftsman torque wrench cheaper, but it isn't any cheaper.

MM

 

[Ian M]

MM,
Marty's kit is very handy and there is a real advantage to getting the torque wrench that will undo ring nuts, saves having to also have a 1/2" wrench if you want to loosen them off for removal or re-torqueing.

The darn things are expensive for what you are getting but a person pretty much has to have one to check torque settings on the scope ring nuts and on your stock bolts for Rems and Wins.

I also "invested" in a Mac torque screwdriver for doing the top strap screws on the tactical rings - again nasty expensive but sure good to have. Those little beggars should be torqued at 15 in-lbs according to the instructions. You can end up with nearly as much money tied up in this stuff as your rings. Then there is a ring lapping kit - and it goes on and on.

 

[MontanaMarine]

I'm almost surprised that a combination tool consisting of a 65 inch-pound, and a 15 inch-pound tool with drivers for the receiver bolts, ring nuts, and ring screws is not out there. In a small handy configuration like the Sekonk T-wrench. MM

[ 04-07-2002: Message edited by: MontanaMarine ]

 

[Ian M]

Montana,
Sorry for the poor explanation. Have two separate tools - the Seekonk does the side nuts on the Badger and has an adapter for a Torx bit or whatever screwdriver bit to also do the stock bolts (this is model BT-2L). The top cap-screws or little 6/48 screws require 15 in/lb which is done with a MAC torque screwdriver that simply looks like a big, oversize screw-driver with a dial where the bits fit in that is adjustable up from 0 - 36 in-lb. (this is MAC Tools model number TSM2-36).

Seekonk makes two different styles of torque wrenches, although they look almost identical. One only delivers 65 in/lb period, that is a model BT-2H. They also make identical looking wrenches that do 65 in/lb tightening and 80 loosening so you can back-off a nut or bolt tightened at 65 - that is model BT-2L. Difference in appearance is that the BT-2H has blued steel caps on the each end of the "T" handle, other model doesn't have any end-caps.

Make sure that you buy the BT-2L when you get one - I know that Badger sells them and believe it is the one that Premiere sells. Leupold sells the BT-2H for their MK4's.

I took a spare RCBS die-box and cut the dividers out of it - fits perfectly for storing the Seekonk with the accessories and spare Torx wrenches etc.

 

[MontanaMarine]

Thanks for the scoop Ian.

MM

 

[steve smith]

Thanks a bunch for all the info fellas. It's all been really helpfull. So med hieght rings should allow for Butler Creek lens caps to fit with room to spare. That's what I needed to know.

 

[DixieFreedom]

MOntanna Marine

What ring height on a ken farrel 20moa with a loopie Mk4 M1? on rem varmint?